Overfishing the Common Snook Populations

by Allison Ashcroft

Submitted : Spring 2012

The main purpose of this project is to see if the common snook, Centropomus Undecimalis, populations on the Atlantic coast and the Gulf coast are being exploited due to overfishing. This is established by evaluating if the populations are increasing or decreasing, finding the intrinsic rate of increase, and determining how carrying capacities compare by coast by using a population growth model. The carrying capacity found for the Atlantic population is 996778.7 and the intrinsic rate is 0.00621, and the carrying capacity found for the Gulf population is 2869958.03 and the intrinsic rate is 0.00165. Both populations are decreasing because both populations are being overfished; however the snook population in the Gulf is decreasing at a faster rate than in the Atlantic. Utilizing this data helps set fishing limits for recreational fisherman, so the population will have a chance to increase.

[ Back ]